Archive for month: December 2010

Autobiographies. They are an American institution. People who are famous write them all the time. Even the Bieber has a biography at the age of 16. At 16? What could have happened so significantly by the age of 16 that would necessitate a biography? I don’t know, maybe selling a go-zillion records and being a teen heart throb or something like that.

Biographies, or autobiographies are books that are written that outline a persons life. It shares the good and the bad. The funny and the mundane. Its a means by which other people can get an insight into intimate details of someone’s life. I guess if you’re famous, people will want to read it. If you’re some hack that no one knows? You’re book sells on ebay from a used book seller for 99 cents for 4 years.

In a book about your life, the title tells it all. Good title means good sales. Bad title- no sales. But there is another component of the title- it has to be somewhat grounded in reality. If it doesn’t bear witness to the actual life of the subject, then its kind of pointless isn’t it?

If a book was written about me today, here are some catchy titles that I came up with that bear witness to the reality of my life.

1. Donuts I have known and Loved- A life spent looking for the perfect pastry.

2. Indecision- Thoughts on plans and dreams I never tried.

3. Sleeping In- The Art of Lethargy and Sloth and its impact on Spiritual Development.

4. Financial Mis-Steps and the Influence of the American Credit Card- a Money How-Not-To primer.

5. Great Television I was Watching While the Rest of the World was Living.

6. A Fat Gut and Winded Lungs- The Benefits of Muscular Atrophy and Sitting on the Couch.

Pretty Catchy Titles Eh? I thought so. Sure, they are funny. They are meant to be funny. But they also should shed some light on the reality of things in my life that I am not currently achieving and the level that I want to. My life isn’t in financial ruin and I’m not in danger of needing a heart surgery, but I know that there are things I want to be doing in larger measure that I am not doing.

Is the same true for you? Every day you’re writing your biography. Every day what you choose to do or not do with your time and resources. Granted, about 99.9% of us will never have a book written about us, but that’s not the point.

The point is if there was a book written about you, what would the title be? Or what would you want it to be? And would that title match up with your life?

Today, you can start writing the type of life you want to have. You can change anything, start anything, stop anything or influence anything that you want to do. The question, is are you going to do it, or is your life going to be a story of regrets?

Everyone has regrets, its a part of life. But every day we can choose to lessen those regrets by making those things in our life that we know that matter a priority in our lives. We can choose to charge ahead, with God’s help, and achieve whatever kind of life that you want.

Go start re-writing your life. Maybe your title will be-

1. Blogs that Changed My Life

2. How I went from Facebook to Facetime

3. The Day My Life Changed.

Go do it! For you facebookers- include your biography title on the comment stream!

We live in the Pacific Northwest, and last night, the weather was so intense that it woke me up.

Every night I go to sleep to the sound of rain. Not because its raining, but because I have a wave machine thing that puts out different sounds, one of which is the sound of rain. I love that sound. It helps me fall asleep, but last night, at about 1 am, as I was laying there, it sounded like my little rain machine was having problems. I turned down the volume to see if it had shorted out or something, but that wasn’t it. The sound I had heard was the pounding rain and wind at my house.

I couldn’t stay in bed. I got up and went and stood at our front window to see what was going on outside. It was quite the show. There were buckets of rain falling from the sky, wind that appeared as though it were a hurricane, and lightening that struck right near our house. Crack boom bang. We were in a storm last night of biblical proportions. It felt like the end of the world.

You may not know this about my personality, but at times, I’m known to give in to irrational thoughts of doom. Its been that way since I was a child. My mom tells stories about me getting up at night asking about killer bees. When Crystal and I were on a cruise one time, I started thinking about the movie Titanic as I was laying in bed and I couldn’t fall asleep that night.

Well last night, as I was laying in bed listening to the wind and rain, I began to think about a tree falling on our house. We are surrounded by big tall trees- like 70 footers. As I lay in bed I pictured what it would be like to have a huge tree fall on our house in the middle of the night. It kept me from falling asleep. I couldn’t shake it out of my head.

I realize that this wasn’t grounded in reality. It was irrational. I get that.

But here’s what happened- last night, laying in bed I became fully aware of the presence of God. His protection. His provision. His staying power. I focused on Him, His love for me and my family, and His omnipotence and do you know what happened? I feel asleep. Almost instantly in fact.

Here’s the deal- I’ll make a broad assumption that everyone deals with some sort of uncertainty in their life, and that sometimes it is not dealt with well. We give into emotional despair, fear and loathing and don’t allow ourselves to be comforted by the presence of God. We forget the good and focus on the bad.

God wants to be with you in the midst of your storms. Literally and figuratively. Often when we are in the storms of life we focus on the circumstance of the storm, give into fear, and allow ourselves to be consumed with fear and doubt of God’s protection and provision.

Isaiah 26:3- You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.

Rest on that in your storm. Keep your mind steadfast on the Lord and His ability to provide and protect in your storm. He loves you and wants the best for your life. Focus on Him in your storm and see what it does for your situation. The situation may not change, but the way you deal with it will.

It happened to me a few months ago. I was at the Comcast office down in Auburn standing in line, watching an episode of “Family Feud” on the Television on the wall, and noticed the sign that read “Service Animals Only Please”. Much to my dismay, not long after reading this sign, I happen to notice someone in line, who was holding a small dog.

What kind of service is that dog doing?

I understand the world that we live that there are ‘service’ dogs that do more than being a seeing eye dog, but for the most part, in my opinion the people who bring these small dogs into every last commercial establishment are not in need of a service dog. They are people whom live their life that believe that the rules don’t apply to them.

Some of the other rule breaking dog owner types-

1. The “dog is in my purse so its okay” owner.

2. The “dog is wearing a muzzle so I can bring it on school grounds” owner.

3. The “dog is in the baby carriage so I can shop with it” owner.

4. The “my pit bull wont bite your kids so it can be off the leash” owner.

5. The “if I can carry my dog he wont bother anyone” owner.

Did you catch this little story? A Phoenix bound plane was diverted because the owner let the small dog out of its cage and it bit someone on a plane. You can read the story http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101207/od_nm/us_usa_airline_dog . If I was on that plane I would be annoyed if my plane got diverted because someone didn’t follow the rules.

Here’s the deal. I own a dog. A big one. He’s about 80 lbs. If I was holding him in my arms at the check out line at walmart, I’m sure someone would look at me funny. But size is not the issue here, its societal norms and rules that are the issue.

Rules, however odd or constrictive have some sort of connection to allowing other people to live their lives without being affected by you living yours. I agree that some of these rules are not agreeable with me, but nonetheless, they exist, so I must live within in them. When I follow them, regardless of whether or not I agree with them, I allow other people to live in a way that they are not affected by my choice to not follow the rules- like if I parked in the no parking zone every single day when I pick up my kids at school (I didn’t pull that example out of nowhere).

God has some do’s and don’ts also. These do’s and don’ts are not constrictive, they are actually freeing. Why? Because from the time we are children we learn that we operate better when there are limits with what we do. Its not always initially easy or fun to keep these limits, but when I keep these limits and ‘stay within the lines’ I find that my life is more fruitful. My soul more at peace. My relationships less strained.

Rules, being what they are, apparently are there for a reason.

Are you a rule breaker/bender? Do you look for ways around a rule instead of staying within the rule? Challenge yourself today to stay within the social rules no matter how much you may not agree with them. You will find that you feel better, interact better with others, and honor those around you with whom you live.

These guys I know were telling me about this challenge that is going around when you try to eat a tablespoon of cinnamon. Have you heard about this? I guess you’re supposed to put the whole thing in your mouth and see if you can swallow it, but its impossible. No one has been able to do it. When you put it in your mouth, immediately it sucks out all the moisture and you either cough, sneeze, choke or expectorate the cinnamon.

Sounds like the some good college fun.

Last night in the middle of the night, that was the image that came to my mind when I woke up, on my back, breathing through my mouth. I can’t even begin to explain to you how dry my mouth felt last night. It literally felt like my tongue was a sweat sock, the sides of my mouth were coated with sand, and someone was blowing a hot hair dryer in my mouth.

Before I went to bed last night I distinctly remember saying to my wife that I hadn’t drank enough water yesterday. I think it was true. Prudently, I had strategically placed a glass of water next to my bed, in case I woke in the middle of my slumber and needed to quench my thirst.

I cannot begin to explain to you how wonderful it felt to pour that water into my mouth in the middle of the night. It wasn’t cold, there wasn’t any ice. It was just room temperature water, but it was so so refreshing. It was glorious. “praise God” I said in the darkness of my bedroom. I didn’t even have to get out of bed.

As I fumbled in the dark, found that glass and began to drink it I though- there is nothing as satisfying to drink when you’re thirsty besides water. Sure, there are other things to drink, but nothing hydrates or fulfills the need for satisfaction like water. Yes Gatorade is good for you. Yes ice cold Coca Cola in a bottle is amazing. But nothing in this world is better for a dehydrated person that good clean water. That’s the way God created us. When we’re thirsty, we need water.

Jesus talked about thirsty people and said – “but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

What he was saying was that we get thirsty, so we drink water. After that, we become thirsty again, and must drink water again. Its a cycle of life. We need water to live and if we don’t get water we die. He uses that analogy to say that spiritually, the water we get from Jesus (which is symbolic of the Holy Spirit) will never ever make us thirsty again. He was saying in a roundabout way that people look for the wrong things in their life to satisfy their spiritual needs.

Did you get that? If we are thirsty physically, we need water. If we are thirsty spiritually we need the Holy Spirit. Those are the only two things in this world that can quench a physical and spiritual thirst. Water and the Holy Spirit.

Have you been drinking the wrong liquid? Have you been trying to satisfy your thirst in the wrong way? Perhaps what you have been using to try to satisfy the thirsts in your life aren’t satisfying. Maybe you’re drinking spiritual sand instead of the spring of eternal life.

Today, do these two things- drink water and pray to receive the Holy Spirit in your life. Water will satisfy your physical thirst and the Holy Spirit will satisfy your spiritual thirst.

That way, you wont have sweat sock mouth like I did, and you’ll get some eternal life too.